Chicken Soup for the Rocker's Soul
by Weary-Traveler
Summary: Danny tries nursing a sick Ember back to health after finding her unconscious in Amity Park. A twoshot based on a WingsofMorphius pic. Minor DxE
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Danny tries nursing a sick Ember back to health after finding her unconscious in Amity Park. A two-shot based on a WingsofMorphius pic. Minor DxE

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_CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE ROCKER'S SOUL_

_Ahhhh… Ahhhhhhh…._

_Ah-CHHOOOOOO!!!_

Piercing the relative silence of the ghost-zone was a good way to get noticed by the multitude of dangerous ecto-creatures that inhabited it; for Ember McClain that had never been a problem. Being one of the more powerful ghosts, she'd never had trouble keeping the weak little ecto-beings in line. She was also one of the few ghosts strong enough to make it into the living world. But ever since she'd caught an ecto-flu, things hadn't been going so well.

"Back-OFF!!" She screamed hoarsely, swinging her guitar in the air at the little green ghost that had been pestering her for hours. "I swear when I get better I'm gonna… gonnaa_Ahhh-CHOO!!"_

"Haha!" The tiny thing cackled, whacking her on the back of the head as she recovered from her sneeze.

Spinning around quickly, she whapped the creature hard with the front of her guitar, sending it flying. After watching to make sure it was gone she promptly collapsed in exhaustion.

"Stupid flu, can't even use my guitar as anything except a mallet anymore." Unfortunately, the power in her guitar was linked with her voice which had gotten so bad it now only came out as a hoarse whisper. Many of her other ghost powers were also acting chaotic, plus just using them drained her considerably.

Walking slowly along a floating walkway, which twisted its way around through the ghost zones many realms; Ember couldn't help remembering back to when she had been alive and her mother made her chicken soup whenever she got sick. She didn't have many memories of her past life; they seemed to drift in and out of her mind from time to time, but were never clear enough for her to care about. She couldn't remember what her mother looked like, only that the soup always seemed to help when she was sick.

Her arms and legs felt heavy, the flu was getting progressively worse and she could feel the eyes of many ghosts focused on her from afar. Catching her eye up ahead, further down the path, was a dark green swirling portal.

"I've got… to get… out've here…" she said faintly. In the world of the living she could wait until her flu passed, rather then stay and be a target.

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Danny Fenton, alter ego of the towns famed ghost protector Danny Phantom, was just getting ready for bed when a jet of blue mist escaped his lips.

"Uh… why can't ghosts sleep like everyone else?" He looked over at his clock, "11:30, great. By the time I finish stuffing the Box Ghost into the Fenton Thermos It'll probably be morning." Two glowing rings formed around his waist and ran along his body, turning his pajamas into the tight jump-suit of Danny Phantom.

Turning intangible, Danny flew through the ceiling and into the night sky; Looking down at the dark homes of Amity Park. It didn't take long for him to spot the ghost, floating down the street only a block from his house.

"Ember!? Jeez now I wish it was the box ghost, I'll be fighting her all night!"

As Ember made her way into an alleyway, he flew down to get a closer look. Almost immediately he noticed something was wrong. She drifted slowly, seemingly unaware of her surroundings; when she landed, she swayed unsteadily on her feet bracing herself against a wall.

He heard coughing followed by a loud sneeze that scared several stray cats out of the alley. He could hear her muttering in a raspy voice that sounded strange coming from her. "…stupid flu… can't even fly…"

"Flu? Ghosts could get the flu?" He guessed that this meant Ember probably wasn't here to fight. He couldn't help at feel concerned as he watched her fall forward against a garbage can before sliding slowly along-side a wall for support, he wondered if she would be alright.

'Why should I even care?' He stopped himself there, realizing what he was saying. 'It's that kind of thinking that keeps Valerie from ever trusting me. I should help her, even if we're enemies.' He looked back at her and noticed her eyes were closed; she didn't seem to be awake.

'…or alive.' He knew he didn't have to worry about that at least.

Making his way slowly down the alley Danny realized he may be able to catch ghost flu in ghost form. He decided it would be best to change back into his human form; Danny Fenton now approached Embers ghostly form.

Standing so close to Ember while not in ghost form was a surreal experience; he felt vulnerable without his powers and had to fight the involuntary urge to go ghost. When he knelt down next to her it became apparent she was out cold; he reached forward and lifted her arm, watching it dangle limply. Her skin was warm to the touch, especially for a ghost. Sam had commented before that his skin was very cool, and he knew other ghosts were near subzero.

"Ghosts must heat up when they get sick." He let go of her arm; feeling uncomfortably like a kid poking a dead animal with a stick. "At least I know she's not faking"

"I got to get her out of this alley, and then… to Fenton works" he sighed, realizing how this could all go **very** wrong, **very** easily.

Carrying things had become so much easier since Danny got his ghost powers, in his ghost form he felt at least five to ten times stronger then normal; but not wanting to catch whatever Ember had, Danny resorted to carrying her without his powers.

"Nngghh!...Huughh… How could something made of ecto-energy weigh so much!" he cried.

The streets were empty of cars or pedestrians. Danny realised how strange he'd look to a passer-by, carrying former pop idol Ember McClain's body down a dark street in the dead of night. Though he was more worried of what would happen if she were to regain consciousness in his arms.

'At least the house has an arsenal of ecto-weapons.' though he knew the odds of her posing much of a threat was low.

_**Groan**_

Danny nearly dropped her right there, as he felt his heart beating a mile a minute in his chest. Looking down at her head dangling over his left arm, he didn't see any signs of her waking up. He lifted her closer to his chest, letting her head rest on his shoulder to prevent it from lolling around anymore. But as he did that she let out a sigh and curled up more in his arms; her right arm draping itself around his neck while her head pressed against his. She let out a less pained sigh.

Danny's gut twisted uncomfortably. Blushing in embarrassment, he hurried down the block a little quicker; finally arriving at his front door.

'Now to sneak quietly inside and up to the Ops-center' He thought, walking across the dark living room towards the kitchen.

**Creeeeek**

He froze, 'uhhhh… that wasn't me'

"_Danny_!" said an urgent whisper from the recliner in the shadows, a sliver of red hair illuminated from the streetlight outside.

**Click**! the lamp next to the chair flicked on.

"_What did I tell you about late night ghost fighi- Oh My God!_"

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Please R & R, interested to here what you think before I start the second part.


	2. Chapter 2

**Special Thanks to: **BadCatGirl, mickXfan, Kradeiz, Nonasuki-chan, M.Bersback, Sapphire Wolf Master, Aki-sama, blindyourears, acosta perez jose ramiro, WingsOfMorphius (Thanx for letting me know about the ban), Invader Johnny.

**A/N:** Jazz has always been a favorite character of mine, but she's so hard to write for. I wanted to get her reactions and personality down accurately.

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"_What did I tell you about late night ghost fighi- _Oh My God!" Jazz's eyes went wide at the sight of Ember being carried Danny's arms.

"_D-Danny?..._ Ember!!?..." Danny threw Ember on the couch and rushed over to Jazz and clapped his hand over her mouth. "_**Jazz**!_" He whispered harshly, the last thing he needed was for his parents to wake-up and make this whole situation even more complicated. After several tense seconds, Danny didn't here any activity upstairs and let out a sigh of relief.

"_Mmpphh…nnnnnyyy._"

"What?... Oh right." Danny took his hand off his sister's mouth. She looked over his shoulder at Ember, lying curled up on the couch, then back at him.

"Danny, what's going on? Why did you drag Ember into our **Living room!**"

"_I didn't drag her, I carried her._" This only made Jazz glare at him harshly.

"That's not what I asked!"

"_I found her in an alley, and keep your voice down!_"

"_An alley?_" she asked, her curiosity peaked.

"_She was sick; I think she's got some kind of ghost flu?_" He looked back over at Ember and noticed her shifting uncomfortably on the couch, she seemed to look worse then when he'd found her; he walked over to her and felt her arm, she was even warmer now.

"_Ghost-Flu?... Danny did it ever occur to you she might be faking it!_"

"_I don't think she is. Plus, I've seen her on stage and she's not that good at putting on a performance._"

"_Danny! This is serious-_"

"_I know it is! She could hardly walk when I saw her; I wasn't going to leave her like that, it wouldn't have been right. I'm getting her up to the ops center and I need your help to find out what to do._" Without waiting for her response he was once again lifted Ember up into his arms and made his way up to the Ops center.

Reluctantly, Jazz followed him. Partly because he was her brother and she needed to look out for him, also because she wasn't quite sure what he should have done; this situation conflicted with the blast ghost; dissect ghost, or catch-and-release ghost, policy the Fenton household used for ghost hunting.

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Lying on an old army cot – which stuck out horribly in the high-tech atmosphere of the Ops center – Ember lay curled up and shivering under a blanket; Danny sat next to her watching and waiting. Jazz was busy going over an analysis of Ember's immune system, but at 1:00 am her brain was not at its usually peak and she was becoming increasingly frustrated; her hair was disheveled and there were bags under her eyes.

Danny would also be tired if it weren't for all the thoughts running through his head as he starred down at the deceased rocker; thoughts he'd rather not share with his sister just yet, seeing as how she was already convinced he was loosing his mind.

'Who was she when she was alive? Why was she lashing out on the world as a ghost?' These unFenton-like thoughts were ones his sister usually occupied herself with, mainly to differentiate herself from their parents. He'd always taken after his mom and dad, blasting ghosts left and right without ever thinking much about them.

'She was probably really into music before she died and that became her obsession.' He entertained the thought of her being just another student at Casper High; imagining how strange it'd be to see her walking down the hallways, seeing her in class, eating lunch in the cafeteria.

'She'd be a year or two older than me' he smiled. 'Probably wouldn't get along with Jazz; but her and Sam?… maybe her and me?'

He'd never pictured her as being so human.

"Are you done starring at her yet?" Jazz asked, suddenly standing right next to him.

"What?! No! I mean, I wasn't- "

"You know, this attraction to unobtainable women is something you're going to have to eventually get over." She said bluntly.

"Unobtainable women?"

She started counting off on her fingers. "Let's see: Paulina hardly acknowledged you, Valerie wanted to kill you, and you've been clueless to the dozens of girls at school who actually like you…."

"Dozens?"

"…Personally I blame myself and mom, having so many successful women in a household can have a profound psychologically effect on-"

"Jazz! This reeaallly isn't something I want to talk about right now, or **ever**. What did you find out?" He let the aggravation slide out of his voice, as he tried clearing his head for what Jazz had found out. _'Dozens?'_

"Nothing really, she's got the ghost equivalent of a flu. It's serious but obviously won't kill her, and she's going through the worst of it now. My recommendation…" She walked over to the Ops Center fridge and grabbed a small container next to the emergency ham. She handed him the container, which he recognized immediately. "… is some good'ol homemade chicken soup."

"That's not so bad, we'll just keep her here for a day or two until she gets better and then she can go back to the ghost zone." Danny said trying to ignore the skeptical look on Jazz's face.

"Assuming she doesn't freak out and start tearing this place apart, plus mom and dad come through here everyday, we can't keep her in the ops center."

"Well… Then she'll stay in my room." Danny said flatly, not giving his sister the opportunity to protest before scooping Ember up again (this time wrapped in the blanket) and leaving the Ops Center to sneak into his room. Jazz just watched her little brother leave, rubbing the sides of her head out of both frustration and exhaustion.

"This could all go **very** wrong, **very** easily."

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Ember tried remembering if this was how it'd felt like when she'd died; her body nothing more then a shell, her mind struggling to form a coherent thought. Her dreams seemed like nothing more then a chaotic mess, filled with images from her life both before and after death.

_The image of a dark room belonging to a teenage girl came into focus. Its walls were covered in posters displaying iconic photos of some of the greatest musicians of the twentieth-century, many of whom represented the rock-god elite in the eyes of the unkempt red-haired girl who lay in bed; a black, glossy, electric guitar lying across her chest._

_The girl would strum several cords, slowly building a steady rhythm before she'd break into a coughing fit; effectively destroying what might have become her first hit single, something she always hoped was just around the corner._

"_Amber, Lizzy's here!" a voice bellowed from downstairs. Ember slid her guitar off the bed before the door opened revealing her mother escorting a short brunette inside._

"_Hey Ember, workin' on our number one?" The girl said waiting until Ember's mother had left before sitting next to her._

"_Yeah." the girl groaned "I call it 'Sick for as long as I can remember'."_

"_Cheer up, maybe you'll feel better in time for school; then we can go back to working on the band and you can see everyone from school again." The girl said hopefully._

"_Why would I want to?" Ember said bitterly, "none of them have come to see me all summer." She scooted herself up in bed, "I bet they don't even remember my name."_

"_Of course they do; though I don't think they ever warmed up to your stage name, or mine." Liz smiled at her friend, who managed a smile._

"_Then they won't get tickets to any **EmberFizzy** concerts when we make it big." Ember said confidently. Liz just starred at her for a moment before smiling, then shifted uncomfortably before clearing her throat._

"_Jamie wants to call it **Dystopia." **She said blankly. "She's part of the band now, her and Ashley."_

"_WHAT!? YOU LET THOSE TWO IN- "_

"_There good singers" Liz said pleading with her friend. "We needed to practice with vocals and work on some songs."_

"_Work on some songs!? We came up with tons of songs; we practiced everyday right up until the day the doctor said I should stay home!"_

"…'_The day the doctor said I should stay home', you make it seem like it's been a week! You've been sick since May and its September now! We don't remember the songs or practices anymore." Liz said desperately._

"_YOU DON"T REMEMBER **ME** ANYMORE!" The red-head screamed. "Out've sight, out've mind! You never would have let Jamie and Ashley in before, but now that I'm gone you don't care! You don't even remember how much Jamie and I hated each other!"_

"_She doesn't even remember you anymore Ember! Things just change! The world can't be put on hold every time you get sick again!" Liz screamed. Ember starred at her, frozen. She bit her lip when it started to shaking, she could feel her eyes watering up._

"_Get out've here..." She said quietly, Liz looked at her regretfully._

"_Ember, I'm- "_

"_GO AWAY! Get out've here rocker wannabe! Baby-Pop! Dipstick!" But Liz had already ran out and most of Ember's insults had been distorted by her own sobs. She rolled back over into bed and buried her head in her pillow. All the anger and hurt that was running through her had no place to go; screaming at her best friend had not helped in the least._

_Her mother came up a short while later with a bowl of chicken soup, guessing what had happened between her and Lizzy, and hoping to provide support. She could hear her daughter in her room playing on her guitar, her voice sounded raspy and faint._

'…_You will remember my name!... Ember one thi-"_

"_Amber can I come in? I brought some soup" She opened the door and saw her daughter scribbling something in her notebook while her guitar rested across her bed._

"_You shouldn't be stressing yourself while you're sick" she put the soup on her daughter's nightstand. Her daughter looked up from her journal and flashed her mom a small smile; her eyes were puffy and red, in sharp contrast to her pale skin._

"_Thanks mom, I'll get some sleep in a minute I just wanna finish working on this soon"_

"_Alright but don't forget the soup" She closed the door behind herself._

'She tried her best' Ember thought, 'I got worse over the next two days then…' She had trouble thinking of it. After everything she'd seen, everything she'd remembered, her death had never felt as real as it did now.

Just as she began falling into despair, Ember's senses were overwhelmed by the smell of her mother's soup. Seconds later she could taste it in her mouth, its warmth spreading throughout her body while filling her with a feeling of contentment. She felt secure, as if she was once again in bed being watched over by her mom.

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While Amity Park was just beginning to wake up on a bright Tuesday morning, Danny Fenton had only just fallen asleep; the powerful ghost who'd been in his care for the night had slept soundly. Danny had managed to give her the soup Jazz had left him, she seemed to become semi-conscious the moment the warm soup neared her face. By 4:30am his body had given into exhaustion and he now lay asleep with his back against the wall.

When Ember woke up a short while later; coming to grips with her past was allot easier then trying to understand what she was seeing. The sight of Danny's exhausted form and the empty bowl of soup was enough to get her to pause instead of making a break for the portal.

'You gotta be kidding me; he brought me into his room and fed me soup? I was so sick he could've just put me out've my misery, especially after everything I've done to this stupid town.'

Under normal circumstances, the vulnerable Halfa would've seemed a tempting target; but not anymore. After everything she'd seen in her memories, she felt like she'd regained a part of her humanity. How could she ever fight him again after this? She didn't feel like an evil ghost anymore, she saw Danny as she would see him if she were alive again.

She walked over to him unsteadily - still feeling a little sick - and pushed his long black hair away from his eyes; smiling as she looked into his face.

"I'll be seeing you again Danny, and maybe you'll get to see another side of me too."

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Well that's all folks! Love to hear what you thought, so please Read & Review.

**A/N**: I thought it'd be interesting if ghosts weren't as connected with there past lives anymore after they died, not really remembering anything except there obsession. It gave me the opportunity to come up with a back-story for her.

P.S. Seeing as her name is Ember **McClain** I figured she'd have Irish ancestry and would probably have been a red-head. Also, since no one is named Ember I assumed it'd be a nick-name for Amber.


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